Apple TV

[OKW Lover]

I know that a lot of us (myself included) are very taken with Apple products. I just wanted to share what a great experience Val & I are having with our new Apple TV and Netflix. One simple connection to our TV and we are able to watch a whole bunch of stuff instantly.

I got the Apple TV as a birthday present and in the couple of weeks we've had it I've watched more Netflix movies that we watched in the entire 6 months leading up to that. Much more convenient that waiting for the DVD's to come in the mail.

And to have at least a bit of a tie into Disney stuff, there are several Travel Channel behind the scenes episodes available to watch instantly. I think I'll watch the DCL one this afternoon.

 

[*NikkiBell*]

That is great!! With the Wii, I can get my Netflix movies instantly as well. I love that feature.

 

[jcb]

I've been satisfied with streaming the Netflix app on my iphone and ipad as well. I have mostly used a wifi connection but 3g (on the iphone) has worked pretty well.

 

[roomthreeseventeen]

I totally agree about the Apple TV. What makes it better than the other systems, IMHO, is the ability to have your entire iTunes account on your stereo, as well as home movies, TV shows, etc. We don't rent movies that often, but will download seasons of TV from time to time, and you can keep them, unlike Netflix.

It's also amazing to be able to play anything from iTunes on our surround sound in the living room.

 

[chirurgeon]

I was thinking about this. Does it work off of the WiFi from my wireless router? I have been watching Netflix on my laptop, but would love it to be on the TV.

Thanks,
Kim

 

[roomthreeseventeen]

I was thinking about this. Does it work off of the WiFi from my wireless router? I have been watching Netflix on my laptop, but would love it to be on the TV.

Thanks,
Kim

Yup, it runs off our WiFi.

 

[Anna114]

I can say that we agree heartily about the new Apple TV, we had the old when and it went kaputt, not too long ago. My husband uses the Netflix streaming all of the time.

 

[Cyrano]

Sadly we do not have Netflix in the UK, but I got the Apple TV with birthday and last Christmas money. Everyone in the house has taken to it.

It is a great way to watch old home videos, video podcasts and photo slide shows from past Disney trips

 

[wdwscout]

I have a Blu-ray player that is capable of streaming from Netflix. Sadly, our wifi does not consistently reach the family room (as far away from our router as you can get).

I'm thinking AppleTV would have the same limitations?

I think my first priority is getting some kind of signal into that room...

 

[OKW Lover]

I have a Blu-ray player that is capable of streaming from Netflix. Sadly, our wifi does not consistently reach the family room (as far away from our router as you can get).

I'm thinking AppleTV would have the same limitations?

I think my first priority is getting some kind of signal into that room...

Yes, getting wifi into the room (or a wired connection) would be the priority. You might play around a bit with the location of your current base station. Get a longer ethernet cable and see if you can move the base station to a more advantageous location.

 

[Disney Dad Canada]

Those features are not unique to Apple TV. Unless you have bought iTunes videos, which can only be played through Apple TV, all music purchased from iTunes can be played through any game console connected to your home network.

Personally, I have an HP home server with over 250 DVDs we purchased ripped to it, along with music, home movies and pictures. We can play all the media, as well as Netflix streaming through either an Xbox 360 or Playstation 3.

If you're not already tied to Apple videos, I would suggest getting a gaming console over an Apple TV. They can play more types of videos, have better picture quality and plus you can play games.

 

[chirurgeon]

Those features are not unique to Apple TV. Unless you have bought iTunes videos, which can only be played through Apple TV, all music purchased from iTunes can be played through any game console connected to your home network.

Personally, I have an HP home server with over 250 DVDs we purchased ripped to it, along with music, home movies and pictures. We can play all the media, as well as Netflix streaming through either an Xbox 360 or Playstation 3.

If you're not already tied to Apple videos, I would suggest getting a gaming console over an Apple TV. They can play more types of videos, have better picture quality and plus you can play games.

How did you rip your dvd's to the home server? How much space is on the server? I would love to put my dvds on a servers so I wouldn't have to search for what I want to watch. I have dvds stored in at least 5 different places in the house since there isn't room in any one place for all of them.

Thanks,
Kim

 

[Disney Dad Canada]

How did you rip your dvd's to the home server? How much space is on the server? I would love to put my dvds on a servers so I wouldn't have to search for what I want to watch. I have dvds stored in at least 5 different places in the house since there isn't room in any one place for all of them.

Thanks,
Kim

I used the Slysoft family of software. For everything it's about $100 or so, but it's the best software Ive found for the job.

I have three 1 TB drives in my home server, so there's lots of room. I could explain in detail how I do this if people want, or feel free to email me.

 

[IbeAbitGOOFY]

The Apple TV is on my Christmas "wish list". For those who already have one, can you control what is played on your TV and/or stereo from your computer running iTunes? I am most interested in this feature not to play movies, but to play music. As the Apple TV will be contected through my stereo, I will play my music without the TV being on and don't really want to turn the TV on, just to select the playlist I wish to listen to and then turn the TV off. Make sense?

To watch purchased or rented movies or any other features using video, I will, of course, control directly through AppleTV.

TIA.

 

[chirurgeon]

I used the Slysoft family of software. For everything it's about $100 or so, but it's the best software Ive found for the job.

I have three 1 TB drives in my home server, so there's lots of room. I could explain in detail how I do this if people want, or feel free to email me.

Thanks. Running Mac, so I will have to find another software. I did see a Black Friday ad for Best Buy and they have Seagate 1 TB drives for $80. I planned on getting one for backup purposes.

Kim

 

[lorax123]

Those features are not unique to Apple TV. Unless you have bought iTunes videos, which can only be played through Apple TV, all music purchased from iTunes can be played through any game console connected to your home network.

Personally, I have an HP home server with over 250 DVDs we purchased ripped to it, along with music, home movies and pictures. We can play all the media, as well as Netflix streaming through either an Xbox 360 or Playstation 3.

If you're not already tied to Apple videos, I would suggest getting a gaming console over an Apple TV. They can play more types of videos, have better picture quality and plus you can play games.

I kinda do the same thing with my HP, but I use a direct HDMI connection, the air mouse app, or a bluetooth keyboard and mouse. I'd like to eventually put together a HTPC, but dw is already frazzled by my tech abominations (hey it's got blueray, Netflix, iTunes, ripped DVDs and Internet all in one!). I was thinking apple tv would be an easy, no brained for the rest of the family solution. Plus at $99, much cheaper than an xbox, plus we really don't need another video game console. I did think of that option, but i think apple tv is the way to go for simplicity.

 

[Disney Dad Canada]

I kinda do the same thing with my HP, but I use a direct HDMI connection, the air mouse app, or a bluetooth keyboard and mouse. I'd like to eventually put together a HTPC, but dw is already frazzled by my tech abominations (hey it's got blueray, Netflix, iTunes, ripped DVDs and Internet all in one!). I was thinking apple tv would be an easy, no brained for the rest of the family solution. Plus at $99, much cheaper than an xbox, plus we really don't need another video game console. I did think of that option, but i think apple tv is the way to go for simplicity.

Again, it really depends on if you want to buy into Apple's walled system.

If you already have a PC hooked up to your TV, why not use the Windows Media Centre option? It's quite a bit more versatile. Heck, if you don't find a third party application you need, it doesn't take much to program one yourself. Plus there's a lot more compatible video formats to choose from with the Media Centre, and depending on your setup, you can record TV programs as well. I like doing that then transferring them to my Zune to watch on the busses to work. I'm not sure if the current Apple TV records, but I believe the previous versions didn't.

Simplicity is in the eye of the beholder I know, but if your family is already used to the PC on your TV, Media Centre is included already (with most Windows versions), and its a very nice interface.

 

[lorax123]

Hi Disney dad...

Well the biggest issue with my setup, this isn't a dedicated set-up. It's our main computer, in the basement, and I run an HDMI cable through the wall to our tv and a dvi to it's monitor. Eventually, I wouldn't mind dedicating this tower to our tv, since it has everything I need for a media PC. Except a card to run my satellite feed into it. Which I would like to do and turn it into a DVR.

I haven't really explored media center options. I gave up on windows media player awhile ago, so I haven't really used media center. I will look at it and see what it does. I just prefer the iTunes interface and, of course, it syncs with all of our iPhones.

To answer your question, apple tv doesn't offer a DVR feature.

Do you use your setup as a DVR? I actually have a few questions concerning that. Since its something I want to do.

 

[macman752]

Kim, take a look at RipIt (littleappfactory.com) for ripping your library and HandBrake (handbrake.fr) to transcode the ripped file to your TV, iPod or iPad.

RipIt is Mac only software and costs about $20. HandBrake is open source software.

 

[Princess Janay]

Im so excited im getting one in the next week or so